The end of term update is there. Bruegel and I worked hard over the last weeks so that we can give you - just before the upcoming EU election - the latest overview of digital laws and EU governance mechanism.
Even after five years in Brussels, I was constantly surprised by names of digital laws that I have never heard about before. I decided to change that and thought I know exactly the player, who can help me: the European Commission. Yet, when I called DG Connect in 2019, asking for a list of all EU digital laws, they told me that such a document does not exist. One EU official even admitted that the executive arm of the #EU has lost track of all of its digital initiatives. An idea was born: why not preparing an overview myself.
Fast forward to 2024: together with Bruegel - Improving economic policy (in particular: J. Scott Marcus, Kamil Sekut, Hèctor Badenes Rodríguez) I am publishing today the third version of our well-known dataset, the “blue wall” of EU digital regulation. While the 2010 'Digital Agenda' marked the starting point, it was the von der Leyen Commission that released a tsunami of new proposals. At the end of the 2019-24 legislative term our dataset lists overall 116 legislative items, 87 adopted as EU laws, 21 still in negotiation and 8 remain in planning. 82 EU governance mechanism have been created to implement and enforce the digital legislation.
If the 2019-Kai felt already lost, how do young professionals and Brussel newcomers feel in 2024? How should SMEs and start-ups manage to navigate through this jungle? Is civil society really better protected if the legal system becomes so complex that the time and money required to enforce individual rights is getting higher and higher?
It is important to me to underline that I do not argue against new EU laws. I do not have anti-regulation sentiments but think that the vast majority of our digital laws makes sense … in principle. However, what needs to be urgently addressed are the numerous overlaps and incoherencies that are creating more problems than they are solving. Only then we will avoid creating even more #regulatorymoat that triggers market concentration. Only then we will adequately protect #citizens's #rights in the digital field.
Many have said it in Brussels over the past months: the next legislative term needs to focus on #betterregulation and #enforcement. I hope our policy-makers do still remember those statements once the EU election are over.
Access the document here: https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/dataset-eu-legislation-digital-world
Or download it directly here:
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